| abstruse |
difficult to comprehend or understand; esoteric; arcane. |
| austerity |
a tightened or stringent economy, as when there are high taxes, frozen wages, and shortages of consumer goods. |
| Byzantine |
characterized by complexity and intrigue. |
| cantankerous |
irritable, stubborn, and quarrelsome. |
| deadeye |
an expert shooter. |
| fracas |
a noisy disturbance or quarrel. |
| froward |
unwilling to agree or obey; stubborn; perverse. |
| granulate |
to make into small particles or grains. |
| indistinct |
not clearly perceived or perceiving. |
| indurate |
to make hard in texture; harden. |
| lacuna |
a gap or omitted part. |
| maladroit |
not skillful; clumsy; tactless. |
| oligarchy |
a government or state in which only a relatively few people or members of a family have real power. |
| rodomontade |
puffed-up boasting or bravado. |
| stridulate |
to produce a shrill grating, creaking, or chirping sound by rubbing certain parts of the body together, as some insects do. |